Dinas demolition job is a touching tribute (From Penarth Times)

Dinas demolition job is a touching tribute

11:10am Thursday 25th October 2012 in Sport

BLAENGARW RFC 3 DINAS POWYS RFC 57

ANOTHER sunny Saturday saw the Villagers head to the Recreation Ground at Blaengarw for this Division 5 South Central fixture.

Before the game started a minute's silence was observed for the recent passing of three Dinas Powys Athletic Club members - Terry Nolan, the father-in-law of long time Rugby Club secretary Cameron Mackay; Heather Skyrme, wife of Athletic Club chairman Mike Skyrme; and Warwick "Woggie" Pemberton, former Athletic Club steward and rugby club stalwart.

It was a sombre start to proceedings and the game kicked off with the Villagers' shirts bearing three bands of black tape .

The game had a disjointed, scrappy start and the first quarter of an hour saw little quality rugby. Blaengarw took the lead with a successful penalty on their first visit to the Dinas 22.

The restart was gathered by flanker Morgan Williams who drove on powerfully, drawing the penalty that was kicked to the corner by fly half Gethin Cooper. The resulting lineout was won and driven over with Morgan Williams scoring the try, and Cooper converting from the touchline. The Villagers led 3-7.

The game now sprang into life as the men in blue and gold began to to dominate every aspect. The front row of Mike Jones , Nick Veggas and Tom Paterson took control at the scrum and a series of wins against the head resulted in quality possession for the exciting threequarters to display their attacking prowess.

The second try resulted from an outside break from captain Nathan Williams, playing in the centre, before feeding right wing Sam Alderman who squeezed over in the corner. With Cooper again converting, the score moved on after a quarter of the contest to 3-14.

The third try followed within five minutes as the maturing Cooper released his backline again and John "Evo" Evans passed left to co-centre Williams who fed left wing James Smith, who dummied to full back Nick Coles before straightening and scampering 40 metres for the try. With Cooper adding the extras, the score moved on to 3-21. The remainder of the half saw a spirited Blaengarw side defend bravely against a constant blue wave that pounded their tryline.

Coach Andy Vesey introduced Mathew Brown for the impressive Kieron Spear at scrum half during the interval, and the second half started as the first had finished with the visitors pack dominating the forward battle. Second row Alex Smith and the magnificent number 8 Gareth Williams were now winning a plethora of possession at the lineout and the game moved further in the Villagers' favour as captain Nathan Williams crossed for the bonus-point-winning try.

The brave home team were wilting under the constant pressure and bulky second row James Walters crashed over from close range to score his first try for Dinas, advancing the score to 3-31.

The pressure on the home line was intense and the second half was interrupted constantly as the brave home defenders suffered injuries and were forced to offend consistently to prevent further scores.

One such offence saw Cooper take a quick tap penalty before racing 40 metres to near the try line before unselfishly passing to half back partner Brown to score the try that Cooper converted, to extend the lead to 3-38.

The restart was caught by Morgan Williams who drove on powerfully, the ball was recycled and passed along the threequarters to left wing Smith who outpaced the defence and ran 80 metres to score a thrilling try, extending the lead with the conversion added to 3-45.

Inspired by his earlier score Walters was soon found out wide on the right wing, and favoured to trust his pace to outflank the defence rather than trusting Coles outside him. The pressure on the home side was intense and even when they had possession the Villagers' defence was formidable. A jarring tackle from robust flanker Lewys John freed the ball from the grasp of the home player and the ball was pounced on by the ever alert Nathan Williams who crossed for the try which Cooper again converted. The plucky home side still bravely defended and a clearance kick by their fly half was caught at full pace by left wing Smith on half way, who outpaced the defence to score his third and the Villagers' ninth try. This was to be the final score of the afternoon, producing a handsome 3-57 victory.

It is a win that will please coaches Vesey, Boyland and Darlington as they gathered their fourth away victory of the season.

Dinas' first home game of the season is their next fixture on November 3, against highflying Pontrhydyfen.